Graduation Day

The two officials on the other side of the ravine watch me as I look for a spot where I can settle. Some students who have chosen to treat being banned from their rooms as a holiday from work play a game of catch not far from the weeping willow tree. Others sit in groups, quietly talking. A few, like me, have gone off on their own, reading from books they must have brought with them to the morning mealtime.

For a moment, I stare off in the distance toward the Biological Engineering residence where Tomas is. I want nothing more than to go to him. To find out if his residence is also being searched. To tell him what I have learned and what I have been asked to do. To share the burden of the decision that deep in my heart I have made. Will he approve? Will he stand beside me and help me complete this test as he has done so many times before, or will this crackdown of University officials convince him once and for all it is time to run?

I don’t know.

But I know I cannot succeed in bringing down The Testing alone. For that I require help. I need people who are not only capable of doing what I ask, but whom I know I can trust.

“Where did you go yesterday afternoon?” The soft-spoken words make me turn, and I see Raffe standing next to a small sapling. “You were supposed to stay inside.”

Had I done so, I would not be planning what I am now. One choice has led to so many others.

“Too much had happened for me to stay in my room. So I took a ride to clear my head.” I’m getting good at telling shades of the truth.

“And now you have a plan.”

Instead of answering the implied question, I say, “While I was riding yesterday, I ended up going down a street that looked as if it hadn’t been repaired in some time. Are there a lot of streets like that near the University?”

“A few. Although not as many as there are on the other side of the city. There are more government officials in this area, so there are fewer areas that have not been kept in good repair. My father doesn’t even notice those streets exist.”

His father.

“But you’ve seen them.”

Raffe shrugs. “I made a point of visiting some of those neighborhoods last year. I was hoping I’d find some answers.”

I wait for him to tell me what answers he sought and what he found. When he doesn’t, I say, “The street I rode down is ten minutes from campus. A lot of the houses had graffiti on them.”

He cocks his head to the side. “I think I know the street you mean.”

“Do people live there? The houses look empty, but I thought I saw signs that some of the buildings are still in use.”

“There are always people who don’t want to adhere to the rules of the world they find themselves in. Since those streets are outside the notice of most government officials, they make good places to hide.”

That’s what I thought, too.

“Why do you ask?”

As much as I want to confide in Raffe, I am not sure I can. Despite everything that has happened in the last few days, I still don’t know if I am confident enough in what he believes to tell him about the president’s assignment. Without understanding his motivation in helping me, I cannot tell him more.

“I was just curious,” I say. “It’s different from the way we do things back home. Especially the different-color paints and drawings on some of the houses.”

“There are always kids looking for places to get away from their parents. Some of them liked to mark the houses they used to let other kids know the space was claimed. Officials put a stop to that when my brother was in school. Once that happened, the government lost interest in those sections of town. But mere curiosity isn’t the real reason you’re interested, is it?” When I don’t respond, he nods. “You still don’t trust me.”

Nearly everything inside me says that I should. But my father’s warning before I left Five Lakes haunts me—as does the outcome when I failed to heed his advice during The Testing. Though I want to trust, I can’t. Not yet. In this case, once trust is given it cannot be taken back. I have to be sure. “You still haven’t told me why I should.”

“When you trust me with your secrets, I’ll trust you with mine.” With that, Raffe heads off across the grass and around the back of the residence. The next time I notice him, he’s standing next to Griffin. Both are laughing. Both are looking at me.

The room-by-room search continues for the next several hours. Some students complain. Others stretch out on the grass and go to sleep. Careful to make sure no one is nearby, I pull out a paper and pencil to organize my thoughts. First I write my name, followed by Tomas’s. Beneath our names I write others.

IAN

RAFFE

STACIA

ENZO

BRICK

All have knowledge or skills that could be useful in the days to come. Ian with his connection to the rebels. Raffe because of his knowledge of Tosu leaders. Stacia for her ability to put aside emotion and coolly analyze a situation. Enzo with his awareness of the tensions among the citizens, his clear dislike of the current system, and his father and brothers, who must be working with the rebels. And Brick, who might have skills to support this kind of action, since his parents went through The Testing. They both graduated from the University and now work at a former military facility, developing techniques to improve colony security against wild and mutated animals and other possible attacks.

All good reasons to ask these individuals for their assistance. But there is one more factor that has to be taken into consideration. Who will be able to kill? More, who will I be willing to ask to take lives?